The Conduit
by Michelleasaurusrex
Summary: Lilliani Beckanridge is a Witch preparing to go to Hogwarts. However, on her last week before departing, after playing with her friends and heading home for dinner, something tragic is set in motion. This girl is no ordinary Witch, and the Dark Lord knows it. The power she possesses in unheard of, and very, very dangerous in the wrong hands. M for violence and who knows what else.


_**The girls name in this story is pronounced Lilly-ahnee, and the cat is Nee-um. She is of my own creation, I do not own Harry Potter, or any known characters or settings from the books/movies. **_

_**You know how story intros go, this will be a short introductory chapter just to get the main stuff going, it'll be after this chapter that Hogwarts comes into play.**_

_**Also I can't type a Irish accent, so I'm not really going to try!**_

The city of Galway, Ireland, was alive with life. Sounds of everyday tasks and errands were lifted into the sky, from people walking down the side of the Eglinton Canal, to the people exiting the Galway cathedral. Among these ordinary people, was 11 year old Lilliani Beckenridge. A happy child, all smiles and no worries, she sprinted through the streets towards a grassy area in the center of the city. This was a common play-place for most of the children of Galway. Lilliani and her friends had known each other since near birth, their families being a tight-knit group of friends themselves.

As she ran behind a tree, pushing her unruly red hair out of her face, she sunk to the ground and covered her mouth to stifle her giggles. She was the fastest runner in the group, there was no way the others saw where she had hid. She peeked around the trunk of the tree as she heard yells and hollers from the her friends. "Where did she go?! And how did she get away so fast?!" Erin shouted. "I don't know! Eez like she just vaneeshed!" breathed Jaquard. Erin Daley and Jaquard Bouvier were Lilliani's best friends. Erin had lived next door to her for all his life, and Jaquard and his family had relocated from France, so Lilliani's natural curiosity led her to be friends with the new outsider.

Lilliani inhaled deeply, then lunged at the two boys from behind her hiding spot. Shrieking loudly and gripping each by the shoulder, she took in their looks of horror with great pleasure.

Both jumped straight into the air, and then hit the ground with two audible thuds. "PAR MON DIEU!" shouted Jaquard as he scrambled away from her. Erin merely stared wide-eyed at the wild redhead, and then burst into laughter. "Oh man, you scared the crap outta us! How dd you do that?" Erin asked and she helped him to his feet. "Oh, you know, I just run fast." She smiled back at him. She turned her attention to the terrified Jaquard. "'M sorry Jaqu. I didn't mean to scare you so badly." She held her hand out and helped him up as well. "Eez ok, Lil-lee, I vill get you back soon enough." He grinned and dusted off his pants.

The three of them began walking down towards the canal again.

"I just can't believe we're going to be leaving in just a week, it's so strange to think that we won't be home anymore," Erin stated as they stared out at the water. "Well, you know how it is for us wizarding families, and it's not like we won't be home again in a few months anyway at the end of terms,' Lilliani replied casually, playfully punching him on the shoulder. "At leest we vill all be togezer, oui?", asked Jaquard with a smile. "Yes, we'll all be together, same house or not, for the next seven years," Erin stated.

They stared out at the water for a few more moments, listening to the gulls squawking and enjoying the light, salty spray of the water of their faces. They all turned to embrace each other in a group hug, then Jaquard turned around and headed down the main street, while Erin and Lilliani took a side street home.

"Well, Erin, its about time we start seriously packing and getting ready, maybe read a few of those cool new spellbooks we got!" Lilliani chirped at him. "Yeah, I suppose so, might be good to learn a thing or two before we actually get to Hogwarts," he replied. They faced each other, and hugged one last time before walking to their neighboring driveways.

"Mum! Mum, I'm back!", Lilliani shouted into her small cottage. Inside this small home was the usual magical wonder of the powers of wizards. The stove was heating a pot of bubbling stew, along with frying some vegetables in a large cast iron pan next to it. A broom and dustpan drifted lazily around the rooms, ready to sweet up the occasional mess and dust that fell to the floors. "There you are, young lady! You have more than enough to do right now, and yet your out frolicking with those boys again!", came a loud voice from the other room. Lilliani's mother, Iona, came racing into the room. "You need to get packing right this instant! You have one week left before...before you..." With the last part of that sentence, Iona burst into tears and threw her arms around her daughter. "Until you leave me forever! Oh, my little baby had grown into a beautiful Witch and now she's leaving her poor mother!", she wailed into Lilliani's shoulder.

"Muuuuuuum!", Lilliani rolled her head back towards her shoulders,"You know I'm not leaving forever! I'll be back at Christmas!" She pulled her mother's head off her shoulder and stood her up again. "Now, I'm going to pack, call me when supper is ready, okay?" Iona smiled at her daughter, and nodded, shuffling back into the kitchen. Lilliani made her way down the hall and into her room, closing the door behind her. She sighed and sat in the chair in front of her desk. She glanced up into the mirror hanging on the wall in front of her. She took in her shoulder length curly red hair, her pale, freckled skin, and bright blue eyes. She had a heart shaped face with a defined widows peak hairline, and a strong jawline, which she gets from her father. She took it all in, and wondered what she would look like seven long years from now, she didn't know when she'd have time to look at herself again, they would probably have all the first years up to their ears in homework.

A few hours later, trunk packed, robes folded, and her cat Niam's cage ready to go, Lilliani heard her mother call for her. She trotted down the stairs, and as she rounded the corner, her father walked in the door. "Pa! You're home for dinner tonight!" She flung herself into his arms. Her father often worked late, and was hardly home for dinner most nights. "Of course I'm home for dinner," he said, setting her on the ground,"I made sure to clear my nights all this week, so we have time before you're off on your great adventure." He smiled at her and tapped her nose like he always did, causing her to giggle and hide her face in her hair. He took her hand and together they walked back to the table as her mother set down plates. As they sat down to eat, there came an urgent knocking at the door.

"Who in their right mind would show here at dinner time, have they nothing better to do?" Her father scooted back and got up. He walked to the door, a flurry of tragic events happened. A man in a silver mask pushed his way into the room, knocking her father to the floor, another man held a wand out to his face, and he started to scream in agony. _"GET THE GIRL!" _A disembodied voice tore through the air, hoarse, and whispery. "_GET HER! I NEED HER ALIVE!"_ Lilliani saw the first man focus on her, and then start in her direction. Iona flung herself in front of her daughter, but the man snatched her off the ground by the throat. The sheer panic and terror that flooded Lilliani's veins was like a scorching fire. As she heard her father's screams of unbearable agony, and saw her mother's life draining away, she felt the fire ignite something inside her, something no one thought possible. A bright light engulfed her eyes, and power emanated from her very core. She was lifted from the ground, the fire growing hotter and hotter, the heat making it's way to her fingertips, there was an explosion of bright green light, and then...

Her entire world collapsed.


End file.
